Fatimid or Persian Infantryman on a Lustreware Plate, 12th Century

Referenced on p24 EH - 001 - D.Nicolle - Essential Histories. The Crusades. by David Nicolle
Infantryman with tall shield on a lustreware ceramic plate, Iran or Egypt 12th century.
The foot soldier on this magnificent ceramic has a straight sword with the kind of hilt which appears in several Islamic manuscripts from this period. The hilt was probably of cast bronze.
His tall shield with its flattened base and chequerboard pattern is a januwiya a form of infantry mantlet whose name suggests that it was of Italian origin. Genoa, from which the name derives, became one of the main Italian merchant republics through which military equipment and strategic materials were illegally sold to the Islamic states during the Crusader period.
(De Unger Collection, London)